Allow the players to have agents and be allowed to take money from boosters, advertisers, and anyone else who wants to give it to them. The NCAA rules should then be in place to say that a school or university can’t give a player any money, therefore taking the pressure off a university to bid for a player. If T. Boone Pickens wants to build Oklahoma State into a superpower by putting the top players on a salary, whatever.

Sure, that’ll fix things. I guess Okie State just has to hope that T. Boone is as good a judge of high school football talent as he is with investments. Or does Gundy give T. Boone a shopping list and say “go get ’em, guy”?

Technically, players wouldn’t be paid by the schools. In reality, schools would recruit boosters and advertisers just as hard as they recruit the kids. And who would the athletes’ ultimate loyalties lie with – the schools or the folks signing the checks?

There would be one good development from this. You’d certainly cut down on the incentive for a kid to leave to go to the pros early. In some cases, he’d be taking a pay cut.